Never the Right Time
by gosgirl
Summary: Abby goes to the one person who's always there for her when her world turns upside down. Post episode tag for Enemy on the Hill.


**Never the Right Time**

Author: Gosgirl  
>Rating: K<br>Pairing: Abby/Gibbs  
>Category: Romancefriendship  
>Spoilers: Enemy on the Hill<br>Disclaimer: No copyright infringement is intended. _NCIS_ and its characters are the property of DPB and CBS.  
>Summary: Abby goes to the one person who's always there for her when her world turns upside down. Post episode tag for Enemy on the Hill.<br>A/N: So loved this episode, not least for the performances of PP and MH. I can't possibly come anywhere near the fantastic tags from ncislove and Jo_R but had to get this out of my system. No idea of the name of Abby's adoptive father's name or even if Luca has a wife, or when Gloria died, so indulge me.

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><p>When Gibbs saw Gloria's hair in the locket, he knew.<p>

He knew his Abbs... knew how her mind worked.

Testing her mother's hair against her own DNA would have been the next logical step for Abby's scientific mind.

With his investigator's hat on, it would have been his next step too. But when he heard the outcome, any rational thought was swamped by a wave of empathy and love towards this woman who had come to mean everything to him.

With his arms wound tightly round her as she sprawled across his chest, he was content to sit here until Abby was ready to carry on talking... if she needed to. He'd hold her all night if necessary.

Lying here wrapped up in his warmth, Abby felt her physical tension begin to ease but she couldn't stop her mind whirling. After the initial shock of discovery and her meeting with Kyle, her _real_brother, Abby's instinct had been to find Gibbs. The one man who'd never let her down.

Finding out she had another brother had been surprise enough but the bombshell that she was adopted was only just starting to sink in. The ramifications for all three of them... her, Luca, Kyle... were starting to overwhelm her and she needed time to absorb the news.

"Why didn't they tell me?"

Gibbs shifted slightly to a more comfortable position, pulling her closer and pressed another kiss to her hair, "Maybe they were scared of your reaction."

"But I wouldn't have been upset or angry, Gibbs," protested Abby. "How could I be? I'd have thought they were even more wonderful than I did already for taking on a kid whose parents didn't want her."

"You don't know they didn't want you," he pointed out. Things were rarely so black and white.

"They gave me up, didn't they?"

"You don't know their reasons yet, Abbs." He raised a hand to stroke her hair, letting the silence drift for a while. "Are you gonna contact them?"

"I don't know. I just feel so... confused," Abby told him, sounding anguished. "I'm more upset that they didn't tell me. All those years... did they really think I'd love them any less if I knew they weren't my biological parents?"

Gibbs sighed, "Maybe they kept waiting for the right time to tell you... and then it was too late."

Abby considered that for a moment before conceding reluctantly, "Maybe."

"Sometimes it's never the right time. You wait for it and it never comes along." He took a deep breath, the pain she was suffering prompting him to be painfully honest. "Didn't want you to find out about Shannon and Kelly the way you did. Wanted to tell you. Left it too late."

Abby twisted in his arms to look up at him, amazed at his words, seeing the pain etched on his face. "But I understand why you didn't tell anyone, Gibbs. It's not something that's easy to share. I get that. I know you're trying to make me feel better but the situations aren't the same. We'd only known each other for a few years by then... my parents had most of my life to tell me. Didn't they trust me at all?"

"Maybe they were frightened they'd lose you?"

"Well, they wouldn't have. Did they really think I'd go running off to find my biological parents and forget everything Gloria and Joe had done for me?" She struggled upright, untangling herself from his arms.

His hand came up to brush back her bangs from her forehead, "You can't know what they were thinking, not now."

"And that's the worst of it and I... I can't stop my mind going round in circles." Her expression was so lost, green eyes shining with unshed tears that it made his heart ache. "I mean, did they intend to tell me at some point and, like you said, the time was never right? Or... did they decide years ago that they weren't going to tell me at all and just hoped that I'd never find out? I guess we'll never know now, will we?"

"Oh, Abbs, you'll drive yourself mad with questions you can't answer." He picked up her hand and laced their fingers together, wanting to keep contact with her. He couldn't remember feeling this helpless for years.

"Then tell my mind that, Gibbs, coz it won't stop churning." She felt exhausted but didn't think she could sleep. She just wanted to crawl into his arms and shelter from everything.

"You need to give yourself time. You've only just found out." He knew how her mind worked, diving off into every possible permutation and down every side alley... wanting answers _now._

She looked down at their joined hands, hers so small against his own, finally acknowledging, "I know."

"You don't need to decide anything tonight. Take as much time as you need."

She was quiet for a minute, biting her lip, "Julia is going to love this. I've never gotten on very well with my brother's wife... my adoptive brother... god, this is so hard to think of Luca like that."

"That's coz he isn't," Gibbs shrugged. "He's your brother, plain and simple."

"I know he is," Abby glanced up at him. "I gotta stop putting labels on everyone. Anyway, Luca's in-laws already think I'm an alien or a witch... a freak who's been parachuted into the middle of their conventional family. This should give Julia even more ammunition."

His voice hardened and he leaned forward, tilting her chin so he could see her eyes, "And if she does, she'll have me to answer to."

She squeezed his hands, shaking her head, "You can't protect me from everything, Gibbs."

He cupped her face in his hands and rested his forehead against hers briefly, overwhelmed by a surge of protectiveness so strong he could hardly speak past the lump in his throat. "Want to."

"And I love it that you want to. You've no idea how... cherished that makes me feel." Abby took a deep, shaky breath, unable to tear herself away from his blue eyes, "You mean the world to me, you know that, but you must be tired of me running to you with my problems."

"You're not going to be alone in this, Abby. You're never going to be alone again." He paused, staring at her intently as he moved slowly forward to brush his lips softly across her mouth.

When he drew back, she blinked and touched her fingers to her lips as if wondering if she'd imagined his touch. She trailed her hand along his jawline and he turned his head to nuzzle into her palm.

"Promise?" whispered Abby, running her fingers over his lips.

He pressed a light kiss to her fingers where they rested on his mouth. "Promise."

She leaned closer and this time she initiated the embrace, fisting her hands in his T-shirt. He responded, keeping the kiss warm and tender, letting her set the pace as he rested his hands on her waist.

"Need you... so much," she whispered, tucking her face into his neck and inhaling his familiar and comforting scent.

"You've got me."

And it was as simple as that.

Years of attempting to ignore his feelings for her, of trying to keep his distance, crumbled in the face of her pain.

Abby slid her arms round his neck, clinging to him strongly, almost desperately and breath hitching in her throat, she _finally_began to cry. He pulled her as close as he could, folding his arms round her to rock her gently, pressing kiss after kiss onto her head, nuzzling his nose into her hair. When her sobs gradually subsided, she ran her hands tiredly over her face.

He lifted her chin so he could see her red-rimmed eyes, wiping away the tear tracks with his thumb, "Not planning on going anywhere..." He gave a wry half smile, "not for a while anyway."

Gibbs tugged her back into his arms and she snuggled into his chest again and they lay there quietly, both taking comfort from the other's warm presence.

Reluctant to disturb her but knowing their backs would suffer if they fell asleep like this, Gibbs eventually urged her to sit up.

"It's late," Abby hesitated, stretching the kinks out of her neck, "I should be going."

"Nope, you're not going back to your apartment. You're staying here." He shifted to the coffee table to unbuckle and remove her boots.

"Are you sure I won't be in the way?" Her expression was equal parts uncertain and hopeful as she watched him.

He grabbed her hands, pressing a soft kiss to each palm before folding them inside his own larger hands. "Never. Want you here, Abbs. Ya need to be taken care of tonight. Let me do that?"

A ghost of a smile crossed her face as she nodded, "Okay."

Standing up he held out his hand, "Come on. More comfortable upstairs." At the foot of the stairs, he pressed a kiss to her temple and urged her to go up. "I'll be up in a minute. Grab a T-shirt and there's a spare toothbrush in the cupboard."

It didn't take him long to tidy up, lock the front door and follow her upstairs. Abby was in the bathroom and he grabbed sweatpants, changing in the guestroom. When he returned, Abby was sitting on his bed, wearing one of his T-shirts which swamped her, coming to mid thigh on her long legs. She'd washed her face, removing her ruined make-up and was busy untangling out her pigtails.

It was a sight that at any other time would have had his heart pounding, but tonight was all about caring for her, so he tamped down his body's reactions as best he could.

Climbing into bed, he held the covers back for Abby to join him. She held onto her locket as she slipped into bed beside him, tucking it under the neck of the T-shirt. Settled on her side, she looked at him tentatively, "Feel really cold."

He held out his arms, "C'mere."

Needing no further urging, Abby slid over and settled her head on his chest again, wrapping an arm round his waist and letting his warmth surround her. He stroked his fingers through her silky hair repeatedly, the action soothing him as much as it did Abby.

"This isn't how I imagined ending up in your bed."

"Nor me. We've time, Abbs. Don't wanna rush you." He tilted her face up to nuzzle her mouth, kissing her softly... a goodnight and a promise.

She sighed when he broke the kiss and snuggled as close as possible, "Perhaps when I'm not such an emotional wreck."

He wrapped himself around her, trying to reassure her with his presence. It was the only thing he had to offer.

"You'll get through this, Abbs. We'll do it together."

The end.


End file.
